The Essex Board of Trade has made a $2,000 contribution to the Essex Tree Committee. It is the first time the Board of Trade has made a donation to the group, according to board member Peter Amos, who presented the check to Essex Tree Warden Augie Pampel.

Amos said the contribution was significant because it demonstrated the board’s continuing commitment to Essex.

“It adds to shade, to appearance, to the ambiance of the town,” he said.

The Board of Trade sponsors such Essex events as the Essex Ed Parade to celebrate Ground Hog Day, the Scarecrow Festival at Halloween, the Essex Holiday Stroll at Christmas, and summer Alfresco Thursdays to encourage outdoor shopping and evening dining along Essex Main Street. Susan Dee of Osage Advisors is the current president of the organization.

According to Pampel, $2,000 is the approximate cost of two trees; some of the funds, he noted, could also be used for the maintenance of current plantings.

Pampel said that the kinds of trees that have been planted on town property have changed over the years. Once sugar maples were popular to plant, but Pampel said they are not the best street trees. According to a United States Department of Agriculture bulletin, sugar maples are intolerant of compacted soil, too much heat, and road salt.

As trees succumb to age, disease, and storm damage, Pampel said the plantings selected now are smaller trees like paper bark maple, paper bark birch, and sourwood.

Pampel pointed out that anybody can make a contribution to the Tree Committee, and that often such contributions are made as memorial donations. There is no memorial plaque by the tree itself, but plaques in Essex Town Hall list each donation with the donor’s name and, if applicable, in whose memory the gift was given.

Contributions can be sent to the Essex Tree Committee at Essex Town Hall, 29 West Avenue, Essex, CT 06426.